


Last Stand

by silver_fish



Series: Of Storm and Ash [5]
Category: A Saga of Light and Dark - T. J. Chamberlain, Original Work
Genre: Anger, Canonical Character Death, Desperation, F/F, Grief/Mourning, Implied/Referenced Character Death, of light and dark
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-15
Updated: 2020-02-15
Packaged: 2021-02-28 05:14:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 890
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22738600
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/silver_fish/pseuds/silver_fish
Summary: We've already lost so much. I can't lose you too.
Relationships: Ada Archer/Nerissa Smith
Series: Of Storm and Ash [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1634857
Comments: 1
Kudos: 3





	Last Stand

**Author's Note:**

> [twitter](https://twitter.com/laphicets) / [tumblr](https://kohakhearts.tumblr.com)
> 
> for a prompt i filled last june from twitter! a desperate kiss (with ocs of my choosing). major spoilers for the whole series, taking place in the latter part of old. lots of referenced character deaths. really short, but i hope you enjoy!

They were hiding.

It was all they could do at this moment, as the battle raged on unceasingly outside. Once, this had been a high-end apartment building—for people from families like Adrienne’s, or Adonis’s—but it was now vacant, perhaps excepting the ghosts of those who had lived here once but lived no longer.

Nerissa didn’t know where the others were. Maybe Poseidon was out there. Maybe he wasn’t. Maybe he was safe, with Emerson or Isobel.

Maybe he was dead, like Avery.

She could not rid herself of the memory, no matter how many hours passed. Adonis’s screams, Ada’s tears, Avery’s final words and none of them knowing if her departed soul was now searching for Amery, or for Adrienne. Did it matter, either way? She was still dead, just like both of them before her, and for a very long moment, Nerissa had imagined herself in Adonis’s place.

Ada was the only one with her now, but there had been a heaviness between them since what had happened. Nerissa didn’t know what to say to her— _I’m sorry_ or _I know she loved you_ or _We loved her, too,_ but none of those words _meant_ anything. There was a fierce fire in Ada’s eyes, and Nerissa knew that the only thing she wanted now was revenge.

But they were here, in this worn down once-beautiful building. Not so long ago, Nerissa had just barely escaped from some sword-swinging Light Mage, but not before he had done some real damage to her. Ada had done what she could out there, but the cut on her arm was deep, and even now blood was still gushing out from it.

“I don’t want to use it,” Ada had said before. By “it,” she meant her curse. Now that she had complete control over that aspect of her magic, she was much more careful with it, but this was the first time she had ever expressed that she didn’t want to let it reach Nerissa.

Because she was afraid of killing her, right now, in this very moment, while all she could think about was the Mage that had murdered her aunt.

“Does it feel better?” she asked now.

Nerissa nodded mutely, eyes fixed on the window just above where they were sitting.

“It looks pretty nasty. I don’t think I can keep it from scarring over.”

“That’s okay,” Nerissa said, still not looking at her. “It’s not exactly the first scar.”

Ada was quiet for a moment, her fingers barely brushing the skin around the cut on Nerissa’s wrist, and then—

“I’m scared.”

Nerissa turned, blinking. “What?”

“I’m scared,” Ada said again. “What happens if we lose?”

It was not the first time Nerissa had wondered, but it was the first time she had had to let herself believe that it could actually happen. Poseidon was out there somewhere. Emmet and Isobel. Emerson.

Her family.

Ada’s eyebrows were drawn together tightly, her lips pursed together. Yes, she was angry. Full of grief. _Sad_.

But now that she was really looking, Nerissa could see the fear behind the fire. It was the same as hers, a feeling she had come to be very familiar with over these past few months:

_We’ve already lost so much. I can’t lose you too._

Outside, the battle had not stopped. Even from here, Nerissa could hear it loud and clear, the shouts and the screams, the pain, the anguish, all those awful nightmares that are only born of war.

Nerissa could see them in Ada’s eyes, as she was sure Ada could see them in hers.

There could be hours. Minutes. Seconds.

Days, months, years.

This war was theirs. It had consumed them from the very beginning. Made them its prisoners, even when they were not out there fighting it themselves.

Nerissa did not know how much longer it would last. She did not know the next time she would be able to fall asleep at night without waking in the middle of the night for fear that she had lost the few people she still had left. She did not know when she would be able to tell herself that Ada would still be alive tomorrow, and the next day and the day after that, or if she ever _would_ be able to tell herself.

She did not know, and she did not know which of them leaned forward first, either.

When their lips connected, it was like no other kiss they had ever shared. Their bodies were closer than their awkward positions and Nerissa’s injured arm would allow, but it still did not feel close enough. Everywhere skin met skin seemed to sear, but nothing _lingered_. Now or never— _I can’t lose you too_.

When, finally, they broke apart, Ada quickly turned away from her, breathing hard. Still, no matter how fast she was, there was no way Nerissa could have missed the tears on her face—she could taste their salt on her own lips, feel their wetness on her cheeks.

“I’m sorry,” Ada whispered after a long pause. “I’m sorry.”

Nerissa didn’t know what to say, so she just turned her gaze back to the window. Poseidon was out there somewhere. Emmet and Isobel. Emerson.

_We’ve already lost so much. I can’t lose you too._

The battle raged on unceasingly outside.

**Author's Note:**

> comments and kudos are always appreciated! xx
> 
> if you're interested in learning more about or reading my novel series, i post all info on twitter [@laphicets](https://twitter.com/laphicets) and tumblr [@kohakhearts](https://kohakhearts.tumblr.com)! feel free to find me for general writing updates too; i also sometimes take fic requests on both platforms!


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